


Straight through the heart (a single bullet)

by a1_kitkat



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Hostage Situations, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Beta Read, Reckless Behavior, Regrets, Shooting, Tumblr Prompt, tested friendship, two fills one prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 06:17:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21294917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a1_kitkat/pseuds/a1_kitkat
Summary: Prompt Fill for @malextruelove on tumblrWhen Maria, Mimi, Michael and Alex are taken hostage with other civilians at the Wild Pony, things get very out of control
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 15
Kudos: 139





	Straight through the heart (a single bullet)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a post-season one fic but very canon-divergent as there is mention of Max being back from the dead already

The Wild Pony was the last place he wanted to be tonight but Alex had promised and he was a man of his word. Roswell’s annual UFO Convention was held at the same time every year and always saw an influx of tourists and conspiracy theorists breeze through town. It also happened to be the weekend Mimi had convinced Maria to let her come home. 

Admittedly being surrounded by UFO and alien enthusiasts was actually proving positive for Mimi as not one of them rolled their eyes at her. She was smiling,  _ happy _ , and Alex couldn’t help smiling too.

He missed Mimi so much; not just since she’d gone away to get help but during all his deployments too. Mimi was always happy to see him, greet him as only a mother would and worry about him like he was her own flesh and blood. The letters she’d sent to him made absolutely no sense but he treasured them all the same.

Which was why, tonight of all nights, he was sitting in a booth at the Wild Pony by himself with a beer and watching Mimi as she moved through the crowd, a wide smile on her face. The town-wide celebration had ended the previous night but a few stragglers were still hanging around so the place was just slightly more crowded than usual. Over by the bar, Alex could see Maria, watching her mother and keeping an eye on Michael at the same time.

A part of him hoped, prayed, Michael wouldn’t see him, wouldn’t notice him, wouldn’t come over and try to talk to him. They hadn’t had much to say to each other since Caulfield and Alex’s attempt to apologize to Michael for leaving him behind when he enlisted. His heart had been broken when Michael had come to him, told him that being with him hurt too much and he needed time to himself. Barely a week later, word had reached him that Michael was trying to pursue a relationship with Maria.

Alex had told himself that he and Michael had never truly gotten together; they’d never quite managed the whole relationship thing and Michael had been free to see other people. He would’ve preferred Michael fall for  _ anyone  _ in town other than his best friend but Michael had set his sights on Maria and she seemed very open to the idea though tried to downplay it whenever Alex was present.

He wasn’t really paying attention anymore, his eyes were focused on his beer and his mind was trying desperately hard not to think about Michael… how much he missed looking into those puppy eyes, caressing those soft curls and kissing his beautiful lips.

Alex looked around for  _ any _ possible distraction and one arrived in the shape of Mimi Deluca who sat opposite him and immediately reached for his hand.

“Dear, sweet, beautiful Alex” she whispered.

“Hi Mimi” he kept his voice low as he smiled at her.

“You’re such a sweet friend; my Maria is lucky to have you”

Alex felt his smile turning into a grimace; he knew he wasn’t being much of a friend to Maria right now but it was difficult for him to act like everything was okay and fine between them when it really wasn’t. The way Mimi smiled at him was making him feel uncomfortable and he tried to pull his hand away but Mimi immediately tightened her grasp and made to pull him closer.

“Alex, sweetheart,” Mimi whispered. “My Maria is in danger”

“Danger?” he frowned.

“Of heartbreak”

“Mimi-”

“She says she’s happy but” she paused and peered over her shoulder at the bar where Maria was talking with Michael “he’s going to hurt her”

“Michael’s a good person and-”

“There’s something not right with him and in the way he looks at her”

“Mimi,” it was Alex’s turn to tighten his grasp on her hand “you don’t have to worry about them; they’re both adults and-”

“She’s my baby girl; I just want to protect her”

“I know”

With no warning, Mimi retracted her hand and got to her feet. She snatched Alex’s empty glass from the table and walked away with it. He watched as she headed towards the bar but became distracted by the voices coming from the booth behind his.

“It’s real and I can prove it” one voice was saying to the other patrons.

“You don’t even know how to turn it on” another argued.

“How hard can alien technology be?”

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea...?”

“Look around you, the place is deserted; no one here will be a problem”

Alex shifted in the seat and tried to sneak a peek at the group in the booth. They parted just enough for him to see an item on the table before them. His heart skipped a beat when he realized he recognized the symbols on the device. Alex gasped and turned away, wondered if he could subtly find a way to warn Michael without attracting anyone else’s attention.

He started to reach for his phone, trying to appear totally casual as the group lowered their voices and moved closer together. He watched as one reached for the device, pressed a button and the symbols lit up. Across the room, Michael cried out and fell from the stool. Maria hurried around the bar to check on him.

In the booth, two members of the group leapt up and Alex had to act fast. He too stood up, turned around and leaned on the divider to address the men.

“Did you see that guy?” he said with an over the top laugh. 

“Uh yeah, we-” the one in the trucker hat started to say but stopped when his friend elbowed him.

“That’s Michael Guerin, the town drunk” Alex hated saying that “surprised he stayed upright this late in the evening”

“You mean he-”

“Shhhh, shut up” one of the men looked at Alex and smiled “maybe you should go help him up”

“Nah” Alex tried to remain casual “he’s fine; his girlfriend’s got him… You mind if I join you? I hate drinking alone”

Alex picked up his second drink and slipped from the booth. The group of men all exchanged nervous looks until one finally stepped up to take the lead.

“Cool trinket” Alex nodded to the alien device “what does it do?”

“I’m sorry, we don’t have time for this” the group leader reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun and pistol whipped Alex across the face with it. The sudden force threw him and he stumbled as another also pulled out a gun then fired into the ceiling.

For a group of harmless-looking UFO enthusiasts, they were scarily well prepared for this very scenario. One made it to the door before anyone could even think of escaping and closed then locked it. Maria was trying to comfort her mother when one of them pointed a gun on the two of them.

“They’re not a threat” Michael snapped at the gunmen as he finally got to his feet.

“Is there a way out back there?” Maria nodded and one of the group hurried away to seal it off.

Alex remained on the floor; he could feel blood congealing on his face but knew he needed to be careful. These men were armed and determined. He glanced over at the bar and saw Michael looking at him, eyes wide at the sight of blood on Alex’s forehead. He knew Michael would cause a scene and he subtly shook his head, urging him to stay put.

“Okay, everyone, phones out” the trucker hat guy stepped up “and throw them in here”

He whipped his hat off his head then proceeded around the room, pointing his gun menacingly at each person until they surrendered their cell phone. 

“All of you, over there, on the floor, against the bar”

Maria was the first to move, quick to do whatever they said in order to not risk any harm to her mother. Once she followed suit, the rest of the patrons decided to accept her lead and did the same except for Michael and Alex.

“You!” One shouted at Michael “town drunk; move!”

“I resent that” Michael snapped.

“Guerin, don’t start” Maria hissed.

One of the gunmen moved closer to Michael and grabbed him by the arm. Alex could tell Michael was trying to use his abilities from the way he glared at the gun in his hand but the man simply taunted him with it as he shoved Michael towards one of the tables, away from the bar, and pushed him into one of the chairs.

Another appeared with a handful of zip ties and proceeded along the line of patrons by the bar, tying their hands together.

Alex reached up and touched the blood on his forehead, looked over to see Michael staring at him so he very subtly shook his head. The last thing they needed right now was a reckless Michael Guerin trying to be a hero; even Alex, who was trained for this, still needed a plan.

There were at least four guns in play but only one of him and more than twenty people tied up by the bar, Maria and Mimi among them. He couldn’t risk anything happening to them.

His plan to stay low and out of sight may have worked had he not realized the alien device was unguarded on the table.  _ If _ he could turn it off, it could make a lot of difference. His mind was whirling; the device being activated had caused Michael to fall and now he wasn’t using his powers therefore the device  _ must  _ be affecting him. Turning it off would give them the advantage over these guys.

Alex slowly crawled towards the table but as he tried to reach for it, trucker hat guy saw him. He grabbed Alex by the collar and yanked him away from the table. His instinct was to fight back but the man had a gun and probably didn’t know how to use it, which could result in a civilian getting hurt and he wouldn’t let it be Mimi or Maria.

“Tags!” The guy screamed as he fingered the dog tags around Alex’s neck. He shoved Alex to the ground and pressed the gun into his back.

“No!” Michael’s scream echoed across the bar and Alex peered up to see Michael jump from the table, towards them.

“Guerin” Alex’s voice was muffled from being pressed into the hard floor.

“He’s  _ not  _ a threat” Michael told them “he’s a cripple”

Alex’s head shot up to look at Michael; he tried not to feel humiliated at  _ Michael  _ calling him that while the gunmen frisked Alex’s legs and gasped when he felt the prosthetic.

“Help me move him” he called to his friend.

Alex immediately made his body go limp, becoming a dead weight and making it difficult for the two men to drag him across the room. To his discomfort, they placed him at the same table as Michael and one gunmen stood watch over both of them.

He  _ knew  _ why Michael had done it; if these men were a threat and meant business, they would’ve taken Alex out if they believed him capable of taking them out. Michael had saved his life and hopefully bought them more time to think of a plan… he supposed it was fitting after Alex had told the men that Michael was the town drunk.

“Okay” trucker hat guy announced to everyone in the bar. “Here’s how this is gonna work… We know the ‘47 crash was  _ real  _ and that the government has been covering it up all this time… Well, not any more. We’re here to make them talk; to tell the truth! This town has thrived on tourists flocking here, thinking it’s all some joke but  _ we know the truth _ ! And no one is leaving until the World knows too”

“It’s okay, baby” Mimi whispered to Maria “Will knows the truth too”

The trucker hat man saw the two of them whispering and moved towards them, gun pointed directly at Mimi.

“Are you calling us freaks?” He hissed, sounding just slightly unhinged.

“No” Maria insisted “my mother… isn’t well and-”

“Will will save us and he’ll stop you” Mimi added.

“Mamma, shhhhhh” Maria reached for her hand.

“Shut her up” he threatened with the gun and Maria’s terrified gaze shot towards Alex.

“We need a plan” Alex whispered to Michael.

“I got nothing” Michael murmured. “Nothings working; without my… I’m useless”

“Guerin-”

“Stop talking” the one behind Michael snapped.

He looked up to glare at him before turning his attention to Alex. Seeing the blood on his face caused him to look away and Alex’s heart skipped a beat.

Michael felt helpless without powers that he couldn’t risk using in front of so many people. He wished he could say anything to make him feel better.

“So, what's the plan, genius?” Alex shouted to trucker hat guy. He turned in his seat and looked at the man “you come in here, guns blazing, and then what? You took everyone’s phone!  _ No one knows you’re here!” _

“Oh they’ll know all right” he sneered as he pulled out his own phone.

“Who are you going to call? The town sheriff?” Alex asked.

But the man switched to camera mode and began filming the hostages, all tied up along the bar. To instill fear, he shot several bullets into the ceiling which caused the reaction he wanted.

“I send this to all the media outlets,” he explained, “and we’re good to go”

“We have to stop this” Alex hissed “before it gets out of control”

“There’s two of us and six of them” Michael snapped “it  _ is  _ out of control…”

“We can’t just sit here and do  _ nothing” _

Michael reached for him across the table and grabbed Alex’s hand, looked into his eyes.

“They already hurt you once” he replied “I can’t watch them do it again”

“Then don’t watch”

Alex snatched his hand away and climbed to his feet.

“Sir” Alex began “I’m an officer in the United States Air Force. I have been for  _ ten years _ and I grew up in this town… with the stories and the rumors and the legend of the UFO that crashed here” he moved towards trucker hat guy “I worked at the UFO museum, spent my childhood hanging out in a diner that fed into the hype; this entire town thrives off the mystery” he looked around, all the gunmen were watching him and  _ only _ him. “Once I received the highest security clearance I could, do you really think I  _ didn’t  _ immediately look to see if any of it was real?”

“They don’t keep actual records” the man snapped at Alex “not for a coverup of this magnitude”

“Then what are you hoping to achieve here?” Alex asked. “If you don’t believe there’s any paper trail”

“The truth!”

“Any idiot can go on camera and say it was real… where do you expect to find proof?”

“Are you calling me an idiot?”

The man pressed his gun into Alex’s forehead; Mimi gasped and climbed to her feet.

“No!” She hissed “don’t hurt sweet beautiful Alex”

“Lady, sit back down”

“They’re here, they’re among us but we’ll be saved”

“Shut her up”

Maria stood up and tried to calm her mother but Alex attempted to draw the trucker cap man’s attention back to him, away from the other hostages.

“I’m telling you, there is no record of any crash” Alex insisted.

“Then where did  _ this  _ come from?”

Another gunmen stepped forward, waving the alien device at Alex. The symbols were still lit up so he knew it was active. 

“Do you know how many places here make their living from phony alien devices?”

“ _ This is real!  _ Look!”

He shoved the device into Alex’s hand and he couldn’t believe his luck. He immediately searched it over, trying to find an on/off switch. He peered over the man’s shoulder, hoping Michael could help him but his heart sank when he saw Michael had vanished.

‘Fuck’ he swore to himself. If any of them noticed Michael was gone they’d be in trouble.

“It’s just glowing lights” Alex argued.

“The symbols!”

“Just random hieroglyphics”

“Of an alien language?”

“How do you know it’s alien?”

“I’m  _ not _ an idiot”

Alex held his hands up in surrender.

“I never said you were” he said to him.

“You’re implying it!”

Alex kept his hands up.

“You have the gun, you have the trinket, you’re in charge here and no, you’re not an idiot” he continued “but you’re not thinking right either… taking these people hostage isn’t going to prove anything”

“It’ll prove we’re  _ right _ ” he shouted “that  _ aliens _ are real”

He tried to soften his expression.

“You realize how that sounds, right?” Alex asked.

“ _ This _ is real!”

Trucker cap guy grabbed the alien device and touched it; the symbols glowed brightly and from across the room, Alex heard Michael’s pained cry. It was enough to call attention from two other gunmen who both hurried behind the bar. They returned a moment later, dragging Michael between them. He was shaking and twitching in pain.

“What’s he doing?”

“A distraction, obviously” Alex tried to laugh but he was watching Michael with concern in his eyes.

“He’s infected!” Mimi cried. “Will needs to save him!”

Mimi jumped to her feet and hurried to Michael’s side, followed quickly by Maria but the two gunmen were quick to shave them back into place by the bar. In the melee, Alex managed to grab the device and succeeded in turning it down but not off.

Michael was still twitching but Alex had to remain focused. The trucker cap guy kicked Alex’s leg which sent him to his knees and he snatched the device back. Being close to Michael now, he reached for his hand.

“Guerin?” Alex hissed. “Guerin?”

“Max” he whispered “Max... Coming”

The only conclusion he can draw was that Michael had somehow managed to get word to Max, likely what he’d been doing from behind the bar. All they needed to do now was buy some time but if the device was still active, it would likely effect Max once he arrived too.

Alex knew the Roswell Sheriff’s department wasn’t exactly equipped for handling hostage situations but maybe, just maybe, he could talk them around.

He couldn’t tell them the truth but perhaps he could spin a white lie or two? Alex couldn’t exactly out Michael or anything but he could try to tell them what they wanted to hear.

“Where did you find it?” Alex asked them.

“What?” the guy frowned.

“The device… where did you find it?”

“Around”

“Why do you think it’s alien?”

“Because it is”

“How can you be sure?” Alex slowly climbed to his feet.

“The symbols, the way it lights up and does stuff”

“What else does it do?”

“That’s what we plan to find out… This belongs to an alien and they’ll know how it works”

“So you’re doing this to lure an alien out?”

“No, the government will admit aliens are real and will tell us we’re they keeping them”

“The government aren’t keeping any aliens”

“You don’t know that!”

Alex peered down at Michael who was no longer twitching.

“Think about it, that crash was how many years ago?” Alex tried “if it was real, nothing would still be alive after all this time”

“They’re still out there” Mimi spoke up.

“Mamma, shhhh” Maria hissed.

“Is she mocking us?” Trucker cap guy shouted.

“No!” Alex and Michael both leapt to her defence.

“Leave her alone!” Alex stepped between the gunmen and his path to Mimi and the rest of the hostages.

Not in the mood for tricks, he brought the handle of the gun down upon Alex again who stumbled but didn’t fall. Michael was on his feet, lunged towards the man with the gun.

“Guerin, No!” Alex shouted.

“Enough!” the man shouted. 

Michael launched himself at the gunmen and they both tumbled to the ground. Two more men moved forward and pulled Michael off their friend. Trucker cap guy climbed to his feet and checked his gun, cocked it and pointed it at Michael. Alex’s heart stopped.

“No!” Maria shouted. 

“You think I won’t do it?” he screamed. “This is what you get for trying to be a hero!”

Alex’s eyes darted from the gun to Michael and back again. He didn’t hesitate as he threw himself between Michael and the gun. The sound of the gun firing echoed in both their ears.

It wasn’t the first time Alex had been shot but it was the only time he had Michael by his side, holding his hand and telling him to hold on. All he could see was Michael’s terrified eyes, his ears were ringing so he couldn’t be certain he was even hearing his words correctly… He had to be hallucinating for Michael wouldn’t really be saying  _ that _ to him. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Michael whispering ‘I love you’ in his ear.

* 

Alex awoke to the sound of machines and he was afraid to open his eyes. The last time he’d been surrounded by such items, he’d been greeted with the shock of a missing leg. He kept his eyes closed but flexed his toes then his fingers. His left hand was fine but his right wasn’t responding, was being crushed and he tried not to panic.

He opened his eyes and saw the messy curls on Michael’s head as they rested on the bed beside him. His hand was clutched in Michael’s which was why he couldn’t move his fingers. His heart skipped a beat.

Alex brought his other hand over and winced in pain as he gently touched Michael’s hair.

Michael’s head shot up and he stared at Alex like a deer in headlights.

“Alex?” his eyes filled with tears.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked him.

“I… I had to see you… Had to… be with you”

“Why?”

“Do you… do you not remember what happened?”

“Some whack jobs and the Wild Pony… Is Maria okay? Mimi?”

“They’re fine… Everyone’s okay… No one got hurt except… Except for you”

Alex pulled his hand free of Michael’s grasp as he attempted to sit up, still wincing in pain.

“Are you okay?” Michael stared at him with his usual puppy dog eyes.

“I was shot?” Alex couldn’t quite remember.

“Yeah, yeah you were”

“It hurt… My shoulder, yeah?”

“Yeah”

He reached up and touched the bandage.

“What are you  _ doing _ here?” Alex asked him again.

“Alex, you got  _ shot _ ” Michael cried “you took a bullet for me”

“Of course I did”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Guerin? You’re an…” he lowered his voice to barely a whisper “an alien…” he continued “if you got shot, they would’ve put you in an ambulance and brought you here and run tests and-”

“You did it to protect me?”

“Why else would I have done it?”

“Look who’s awake”

Kyle’s voice interrupted at just the wrong time.

“Kyle” Alex greeted him.

“Valenti” Michael sneered.

“Come on, Guerin, out you go,” Kyle said. “Need to run some tests”

“I don’t-” Michael started to protest.

“Doctor’s orders” Kyle said to him “besides, shouldn’t you be with Maria and her mother?”

Michael narrowed his eyes at Kyle but reluctantly got to his feet. He cast one last worried look at Alex before silently walking from the room. As soon as he was gone, Kyle closed the door and turned to Alex.

“Did you want him to stay?” Kyle asked him.

Alex tried to shrug but winced in pain.

“So what tests have you gotta run?” Alex asked as he struggled to sit up straighter.

“None” Kyle replied “I lied in case you needed a break”

Alex nodded but didn’t say anything.

“You know he didn’t leave your side” Kyle explained as he sat down on the bed “even rode in the ambulance with you”

“He did?”

“Why does that surprise you?”

Alex averted his eyes and started picking at a loose thread on the sheet.

“Because he doesn’t love me anymore” Alex whispered.

“How could you possibly think that?” Kyle wondered.

“Really? He  _ chose _ someone else; my best friend, Kyle”

“Alex” he sighed “I can’t even begin to imagine what Guerin was going through, after Caulfield and Noah, Max dying and coming back… His head was all over the place but I don’t think he purposely meant to hurt you” 

“I’m not going to argue that he wasn’t himself but I loved him…  _ Love _ him… But all we seem to do is hurt each other… over and over and over-”

“You took a  _ bullet _ for him, Alex” Kyle stated.

“I know” he continued to stare down at his hand.

“Why? Why did you do it?”

“I had to… I  _ had _ to” 

“Alex-”

“You weren’t there, Kyle, okay? I didn’t… Didn’t think... I just… saw the gun being pointed at him and I just...reacted”

“You wanted to protect him”

“Yeah”

“Because you love him”

“Yeah”

“What happened, Alex?” Kyle asked him.

“I don’t know, exactly” Alex admitted “I felt the bullet hit me and he was there, holding me and I could feel his hand on my shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding and I… I think… Think...” he blinked back tears.

“Alex?”

“I think he was trying to…” he lowered his voice “heal me”

“Alex-”

“I swear that’s what he was trying to do… despite all those witnesses and his powers not working… he still tried…” he trailed off.

Kyle reached out a hand and gently touched his shoulder.

“You need to get some rest, I’ll come check on you later, okay?” he said to him. Alex nodded in understanding.

Kyle was barely out the door when Michael reappeared in the doorway

“Hey, you mind if I come in?” Michael asked almost shyly.

“Guerin” Alex nodded and Michael stepped into the room, moved towards the bed and sank down in the chair he’d been in all morning.

“I heard you rode in an ambulance” Alex stated.

“Yeah” Michael replied. “I did”

“You left Maria at the Wild Pony to come here? With me?”

Michael looked down at his hands.

“I didn’t even think” he whispered “couldn’t… wouldn’t let them take you away from me…” 

“There’s blood on your shirt” Alex stated.

He watched as Michael looked down at his white shirt then pulled his jacket closed to cover it.

“I was scared” Michael whispered “scared I was going to lose you… lose you  _ again _ ”

“Guerin-”

“I  _ know  _ I pushed you away; I  _ know _ I hurt you when I… When I started a relationship with your best friend but it was never my intention…  _ I  _ was hurting and… Whenever I looked at you, I was suddenly back at Caulfield and all I could see was you willing to die with me and 

I couldn’t… Couldn’t stand it… because it  _ hurt _ so much” he paused as he reached for his hand “but  _ not  _ being with you… that hurts even more”

“Guerin-” Alex retracted his hand. “I can’t do this with you right now”

“Alex, please? I have to say this”

“No, you don’t!”

“Alex, I love you” Michael declared “I have always loved you and I always will… When that bullet hit you… My heart  _ literally _ stopped”

“Guerin, don’t do this”

“You took a bullet for me; I  _ know  _ you feel the same!”

“You’re with Maria” Alex declared “you don’t get to… you can’t have it both ways… I’m not… Not just biding my time for you to come to your senses and-”

“But I  _ have _ come to my senses because it’s true what they say… You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”

“I was never gone, Guerin;  _ you _ walked away because it was what you needed to do but-”

“You got  _ shot _ , Alex! Tell me you didn’t do it out of love and I’ll walk away right now”

Alex looked up into Michael’s tear filled eyes and he knew, in that moment, he couldn’t lie to him. If he’d had time to think, he still would’ve done it. It had nothing to do with blood tests and alien DNA; he’d knowingly dived between Michael and a loaded gun because he couldn’t bear the thought of him getting hurt or worse. Michael had been hurt enough times to last a lifetime and if he could spare him any more pain then he’d do it, without hesitation.

“I can’t” Alex whispered through his own tears. “I can’t… lie to you, Guerin”

“You can’t tell me you don’t love me”

“No, I can’t”

“Because you  _ do  _ still love me?”

He slowly nodded his head as tears silently spilled down his cheeks. Alex used his uninjured arm to reach up and wipe the tears away but he wouldn’t meet Michael’s gaze. Even when Michael reached for his hand and held it, placed his hand under Alex’s chin and urged him to look up. Alex closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

Eyes closed, tear stains on his face, Alex felt Michael’s lips brush against his and his heart stopped. His entire World froze as he felt the love, passion, tenderness exuding from Michael through one single kiss. He couldn’t resist, his lips parted and he surrendered completely to a love he’d missed for so long.

When they finally, eventually, parted and he opened his eyes it was to see the tears running down Michael’s face. 

“I never wanted to hurt you” Michael whispered “and I don’t want to hurt her either… But I love you and I want to be with you”

“Guerin-”

“So I’m going to go and tell her… Tell her I’m sorry and that… it’s only ever been you”

Michael leaned over for one final kiss then swept out the door, leaving Alex with a lot on his mind and a flutter in his heart. Barely a minute passed before his next visitor was knocking on his door and his heart sank at the sight of Maria and Mimi.

“Maria, what are you doing here?” Alex asked before his eyes darted to Mimi.

The older woman crossed the room and took hold of Alex’s hand, kissed his forehead like a mother would.

“You’ve been crying my sweet boy” Mimi said to him.

“Just a little” he said as his attention turned to Maria. “Michael just left”

“I know” Maria replied “we saw him go; hid till he was out of sight”

“Why would you hide from him?”

“Because I know what he’s going to say to me once he finds me and I want him to sweat it out a little”

“Oh?”

“He’s going to say what we both need to hear” she continued “that it’s over because he’s in love with you”

“Maria” Alex tried to keep his voice even as Mimi squeezed his hand.

“You took a bullet for him, Alex” Mimi said to him. “If that’s not love then I don’t know what is”

“What she said” Maria added with a small smile.

“I stayed away, Maria, I wanted him to be happy and I thought he’d find it with you”

“He tried but he’s only ever loved you and I realized that the second we thought we’d lose you… I can’t lose my best friend, not to a bullet or a guy… So when he gets his ass back here, you tell him you’re going to love him forever and that he’s stuck with you”

“Are you sure?”

“We know true love when we see it” Mimi whispered with a smile. “And you deserve all the love in the World, Alex”


End file.
